I’m finally back from my blog hiatus.

Those of you who follow me on Twitter (@shwen) you’ll know that part of the reason for the hiatus was because of my recent trip to Singapore in mid-December, where I attended a wedding and celebrated X’mas.

The other reason for this long delay in posting is because I also had LASIK (epiLASIK to be precise) surgery while I was there and the recovery has been much slower than I expected. So until recently, my close-distance vision has actually been quite affected and it took a lot of squinting and strain to read anything like a magazine or a computer screen. It was one of the few times at work where I was really hoping for more meetings than actual desk work .

As a side note, I have to say that Twitter was a BIG part of my recovery process and helped me to stay connected despite the “visual impairment”, as short 140 character tweets were much easier to read/write without too much concentration or strain.

Anyway, having said all that, I thought I’d kick of 2009 with an announcement about a very interesting upcoming webinar with a great panel of speakers (thanks to Fard Jomar from HealthCareVox for the Tweet-alert) — NOTE: Space is limited, so hurry and register: Achieving Openness: Communicating With People Using Social Networks For Health & Wellness…

Late last year, BusinessWeek published a major article focusing on how networks are helping patients partner with health professionals more effectively. It outlined how sites like PatientsLikeMe are improving medical care and accelerating research. Other Web properties, such as Sermo and the drug safety online community iGuard, have been receiving significant attention as well.

As these social networks have grown in popularity, corporations, non-profit groups and government agencies in the health industry have begun to use them to communicate with and educate their customers and other stakeholders. Despite this, the knowledge gained by these organizations has not yet been organized and shared with a wide audience.

This is why I am pleased to announce that I will be hosting a Webinar, Achieving Openness: Communicating With People Using Social Networks For Health & Wellness, on January 29 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. (Eastern). During this event, I will introduce a new report from my firm Envision Solutions designed to help health organizations communicate effectively with social networkers. The publication, which will be released on the day of the Webinar, features:

• Information about four major communications strategies health organizations are currently using to engage with social networkers
• Commentary from social networking experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, TNS Media Intelligence/Cymfony, PatientsLikeMe, Sermo and others
• New data that will help you predict the impact of two-way dialogue with social network users
• The Webinar will also feature a panel discussion and Q&A with six social networking experts:

• Gina Ashe, Sermo
• Erin Edgerton, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Fabio Gratton, Ignite Health
• Benjamin Heywood, PatientsLikeMe
• Brian Loew, Inspire
• Jim Nail, TNS Media Intelligence/Cymfony

Please click here to register.